This blog began as a description of our life in Al Ain, UAE (United Arab Emirates). Brn worked at the UAE University Libraries Deanship for three years and Bss homeschooled our four children, D, B, P, and O. After returning to the the USA for five years, we are living in Abu Dhabi now.

2005/08/27

Bss' First Impressions

We made it!! Hooray! After a very long flight with very good children, adjusting to the time change, and ten days of sight seeing and shopping, Brn thought I should share my first impressions. This is my first blog entry, so bear with me.

1. The airport in Dubai is not family oriented. I was met with obstacles as soon as we got off of the plane. I had to make about 20 trips up the escalator to get the children, strollers and carryon bags to the floor where the rest of the airport was after we got off of the plane. We stood for a while in a designated spot, waiting for a cart to pick us up to take us to the other side of the airport. An empty cart drove past us........so we decided to ten toe express it across the airport. It was a very slow process. My 7 year old, who was pulling 2 carryon bags finally sat down and announced that he couldn't go on. I shuffled bags around, gave him a pep talk, and we continued. Little did I know that Brn would not be allowed to come in to help me get all of our luggage through customs. I couldn't find Brn, I couldn't find anyone to help me with our 10 suitcases weighing 70 pounds each, I couldn't figure out how to use the phone to try to call Brn.........and the children were crying. So, I joined them..........all five of us were sobbing. We were so tired. In an instant, it seemed, we had two luggage porters who were paged by an airport employee who was trying to understand what was wrong with us. They helped me through customs, helped me to find Brn, and took the luggage all the way out to the van. If it weren't for them, along with a couple of other very nice ladies who helped me wrestle everything off of the plane when we landed, I wouldn't have been able to manage. Welcome to UAE! That was the hardest experience for me so far. Brn lost his wallet the next day, which spun us for another loop. But, we're here and we're together. All of that is in the past.

2. Everything smells so good!!! Every store has the aroma of insence wafting through the air. We even have boxes of scented tissue. That was a nice surprise. Usually, when you mix lots of people with really hot weather, you get unpleasant odors.

3. There are walls........many many walls. Houses, parks, etc. are surrounded by walls. When driving down the street, you don't see houses, you see walls. I'm really glad there are lots of trees to look at instead.

4. Trees!!! I'm so excited to see trees and grass!! Much effort has been taken to plant trees, shrubs, flowers, etc. all along the roads, at least here in Al Ain. It really is beautiful. I think seeing all of the plant life has helped to ease my transition to the desert. I have always lived in the southeastern part of the US, which is very lush and green. In fact, the city from which we moved is called 'Greenville!'

5 comments:

One of the things i really hate about Dubai airport is the agony of finding loved ones when you land there. All of these faces staring at you while you walking down after customs.. makes you feel like a model on a runway :)

Whenever i move to a new country, i love everything about it. Within 2 months i find everything i hate about it lol. I hope that doesn't happen to you :)

1. Little did I know that Brn would not be allowed to come in to help me get all of our luggage through customs.

I don't think that this would ever be allowed in an international airport - maybe only domestic ones.

3. There are walls........many many walls. Houses, parks, etc. are surrounded by walls.

This derives from the Arab family privacy/women privacy thing. It can be a bit offputting at first, when you're used to more open gardens. I think it also has shade benefits, but mainly it's for privacy. The walls look nicer when you get bougainvillea tumbling down over them. If your villa has a watering system, and/or a bore well, you should put some in, it willl grow really quickly.

Hi Bss!! Thanks so much for your post. We have been reading your blog and it is good to know how you all are doing and adjusting. We hope to read much more! We miss you guys! Tim & Maria, Greenville, NC